What Next?

In every musicians life there are times of transition. For most of us that transition is connected to our age. We started this journey with a particular goal and time limit in mind but some things didn't quite pan out the way we imagined they would. On the other hand most of us have experienced success far beyond our initial goals. I am glad to say that I am one of those people that has been blessed beyond expectation and still that question exists. What Next? As musicians and artists in this business, it can be hard to maintain a singular focus with so many distractions. The entire industry is different. It is now based a singles driven non performance game and those for those of us who came up the old way, it can be hard to find and sustain our footing in this era. If we really take a serious look at it, we are really far better equipped to play this new game than we give ourselves credit for. Not only can we make great music to place on the Internet but we have to skill and know how to still take our craft to the stage and entertain the people and this is still an important component of success. Especially now because the quality of the modern stage performance has fallen way off. I'm not talking about having a million dollar over the top over produced show with dancers and circus clowns to boot. I'm talking about just being able to go on stage with your band and turn a place out with just your music and performance skills. So our transition is just figuring out how to take who we are and what we do and finding ways to integrate them into this new digital universe. We should never stop asking what's next because this only keeps us on our toes. There is always something new to learn and new creative territory to explore. Stay inspired and enjoy the journey.

The Truth

All Rights Reserved by Airtight Productions 2012

Don't Fool Yourself

The main focus of this blog is to make sure that you know THE TRUTH about this multi faceted music industry. We all spend our careers building credits as players, writers, producers or touring sidemen in hopes that all of our experience will amount to something when we decide to do our own projects. Most of us believe that if you make a great record and get great reviews that this will guarantee us an introit into the larger world of festival and multi venue bookings. Well... Don't fool yourself. I've spent many years touring, producing, consulting and directing careers. I recently produced a critically acclaimed duo CD in the blues category. The record is getting international airplay and we are still getting outstanding reviews, all of which have refereed to the music as groundbreaking, combined with the fact that we made it to the finals of the famed IBC (International Blues Challenge). Now I'm not trying to toot my own horn, I'm trying to make a point. With all of this notoriety, we also have a great live show but as you know it can be hard to get booked on festivals without the help of a booking agent. So with all of this perceived success we've had combined with our experience and performance resumes, we just figured it would make it easier for us to get involved with a booking agency. WRONG. Every major agency we spoke to asked us to submit a list of our tour schedule for the last two years and the amount of money we made. When we expressed to them that we were a new duo and we needed an agency to help us book dates and festivals. We were told that they would only book us if we had made at least $100,000 in touring revenue within the previous year. Now this really surprised us because the way we looked at it was if we had made that kind of money on our own, why would we need them? I was told that most artists build themselves to this level and then turn it over to a booking agency when it becomes too much for them too handle. LOL. This may be true but it was a sobering experience for us. The bottom line is nothing has changed. If you want something done, you still have to do it yourself. It doesn't matter how great of a record you have or how great of a live show, you still bear the burden of having to prove yourself and your worth. Your experience and know how is really only an asset to you so just use it to get to where you want to be. No need to spend any more time calling people expecting them to do something for you. Just do it for yourself and let them come to you and they WILL come. The bottom line is that no one is interested in helping you BUILD a house, they just want a room in it once it's built. That is cool too just as long as THEY can afford the rent. Enjoy the journey.

The Truth

All Rights Reserved by Airtight Productions 2012

Don't EVER Be Pretentious

One of the truest things to remember about this industry is you never REALLY know who someone is. It's best to ALWAYS treat everyone you meet with respect and honor. Don't ever be pretentious. The very person you choose to brush off may be someone who could really influence your career. I'll take it a step further. That person may BECOME someone important and have the ability to influence your career in a positive or negative way. I meet a lot of people and even though I've done a lot of things, I don't walk around spouting my resume. It's always interesting to see how people treat you when they don't really know anything about you. If a guy likes my playing, that's all that should matter but I've been in situations where a person would kind of give me the brush off until they find out some of the things I've done and then they become very friendly and start to try to pick my brain or pretend to be interested in what I have to say. This to me is very pretentious because if they were sincere, they would have treated me with respect regardless of my resume or what they thought I could do for them. It's always good to keep things in proper perspective. How can any of us have egos when no matter how much we've done, most of us are still struggling to make ends meet. We need as many allies as we can get in this business. There is never a place for ego. I mean I've heard guys talk about who they are and what they've done and how great this or that but they are working for tips in a local club. I'm not knocking playing for tips or doing whatever kind of gig to get paid. I'm just saying let's stay grounded and real about it. We are all living and working in this business and we all understand that there are ups and downs so the last thing we need to be is pretentious. Let's just focus on being great musicians and treat others with respect and honor not because of who they are or what they've done but because it's just the right thing to do. Enjoy the journey.

The Truth

All Rights Reserved by Airtight Productions 2012